Rumor: Wachowskis To Direct Superman Trilogy? [Updated]

Published 6 years ago
by
Rob Keyes
, Updated February 20th, 2009 at 12:25 pm,

[UPDATE: Just as we suspected (and noted below) this was nothing more than rumor and has been debunked by /Film]

A “reliable” source for Ain’t It Cool News has provided them with some interesting information regarding the future of the Superman franchise as well as an update on the current status of Ninja Assassin.

This source, while in Berlin, caught an interview James McTeigue (who’s directing Ninja Assassin) and in the interview McTeigue revealed that the Wachowski Brothers have been approached about rebooting the Supermanfranchise as a trilogy.

Here’s the juicy parts of the message he sent:

McTeigue confirmed that Plastic Man was the next project in the pipeline for the Wachowski’s and he had been signed on to provide Second Unit support. Says the movie has been delayed indefinitely due to a major shake up of projects at WB.

Bryan Singer has refused to undertake a re-boot of the Superman franchise and has left the Executives at WB with no choice but to take a fresh creative direction.

He (McTeigue) stated the Wachowski Brothers had been approached to re-boot the franchise as a trilogy and they are currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a superbowl final.

Says if they do agree, he will likely either succumb to providing second unit support on the movie or will champion the directorship of Plastic Man – He started to giggle as he stated its like a young child for the Brothers and they wont give that up easily.

Says, the very thought of the brothers making a superman movie is unbelievable as they have grown up in the world of comic books and they would be ideal for the project.

Stated that Bryan Singer is looking to move on to Logan’s Run a movie to be produced by Joel Silver.

But having the Wachowskis takeover makes me curious. I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing if it actually happens. Speed Racer, while being an obvious kids film, was completely unwatchable for me. On top of that, I disliked the third Matrix film and thought the second needed improvement. I must however give them credit on their writing and producing credits on V for Vendetta and the upcoming Ninja Assassin – The second of which I know will be amazing without even needing to see a trailer. Just check out this fight training video for that here and you’ll see what I mean.

Since the interview was focused on Ninja Assassin wrapping up, the source also summarized a bit of what McTeigue had to say about that:

Ninja Assassin is locked and complete. Awaiting a suitable marketing strategy and release from WB. Looking likely to be a late summer release.

Action scenes are absolutely brutal, unbelievable vision from the Wachowski’s in blocking the fights with the Hong Kong stunt team.

I cannot wait to see Ninja Assassin and the one thing Wachowskis can consistently do very well is fight choreography – so having them involved as producers and attached to the project is a good thing.

To clarify the obvious, this is currently just a rumor. If true, being approached to do the films is different than being signed to do them. As long as it’s nothing like Speed Racer and not geared towards kids, I think it’ll be interesting to see the Wachowski Brothers’ take on the Man of Steel.

What do you think of the prospect of the Wachowskis directing the next Superman?

Ninja Assassin’s release date is still to be announced and the next Superman film has no official time frame as of yet.

I think a lot of people didn’t “get” the Matrix films because they were very deep on so many levels. I have watched them many times and I always find something in them that I didn’t see previously like the Merovingian and Persephone being earlier versions of Neo and Trinity from an earlier version of the matrix..I could/should write a much larger post as this trilogy is probably my favorite of all time. I think it was brilliant in it’s scope and accomplishments and I applaud the Wachowskis for their vision and intelligence in creating something so innovative and groundbreaking..The movies were heavily laced with symbolism throughout and a lot of things I haven’t picked up on yet..I need to go watch them again..

Reverend – you said “One ( of the ) thing(s) I didn’t like about Superman Returns was the complete lack of power-usage. Heat vision, x-ray, ice breath, and so on.”

I recall scenes with all of those powers in “Superman Returns” – heat vision to free the clamps on the shuttle, Supes x-rayed Lois in the small airplane, and he blew out the underground natural gas fires with some kind of “super breath’.

I don’t think super slo-mo counts as “bullet time” as some others mentioned. The “bullet time” gag was the fact that you were changing your point of view while observing an event that was either “frozen in time” or else moving really slowly.

I thought “Superman Returns” was enjoyable with a few really exceptional scenes/moments. However, I am getting tired of “all Lex, all the time” Superman movies, and would like to see some other villains as other have said.

I *really* liked the first Matrix movie, the second one was generally disappointing and the third was worse; over the top, but not in a good way.

I sort of got what they were going for with Speed Racer, I guess it just was not quite my kind of thing.

Sure they are pretentious and self-indulgent if you are not willing to delve deeper into the entire Matrix mythos. The Wachowskis imagined a matrix “world” of unfathomable design, imagery, & complexity. They encapsulated many of history’s most philosophical questions on spirituality, eschatology & dissimulation & assimilation (choice) meticulously using many of the multimedia tomes available to them. To accomplish such a monumental task (The movies, video games, internet, comic books, animation)is ineffable IMO. The acumen these brothers exhibited to coalesce their ideas into a series of films, (as well as the above mentioned tomes of multimedia), of this scope representing so many genre (and to make it entertaining) is really transcendent of all the conditioned cynicism these films received. They remain a masterpiece of modern film lore and never quite got the recognition they deserved from a large majority of fans.

I think they would be a perfect fit for a Superman reboot!! Go Wachowskis !!

Rather see Spielberg. Granted, not in conjunction with Lucas(that era, as we’ve all seen, has passed.) But think about it. The brothers are more suited to darker themes(the matrix featuring much more sci-fi grit than fantasy, and V for Vendetta being, well, V for Vendetta) I love the work they’ve done with the Matrix, but Speed Racer kinda cemented for me that they’re best suited to steer clear from fantastical somewhat light-hearted icons. Spielberg on the other hand has been making the Superman movie we all want to see for years. Think about it, an alien comes to Earth, and he wants to help us. Toss in Spielberg’s vision and depth for the character’s background(Spielberg does Krypton, and the fortress of solitude?) The villain angle would be a nice change of pace too. I doubt Spielberg would dwell on Lex Luthor, but dive into the plethora of other villains Superman has faced, and he would make the villain as complex as the hero. He’s one of the few directors I can actually see making this big blue boyscout relatable to a mass audience(provided he doesn’t cast Tom Cruise or Will Smith)

I recently watched Matrix 2 and 3, after having only seen each once in the theater, and I agree with greenknight that there is much more there than at first appears. I despised the third one after the first viewing, but saw a lot more the second time.

I really don’t have a good feeling about the wach bros taking on Superman tho. I actually liked parts/aspects of Returns and I like Singer as a director. As far as action goes, the seen where Supes saves the shuttle/jet was one of the best comic movie action scenes ever – I don’t care if I get bombarded for saying that.

Man, oh man!!! Syllable- pah-loozahhhh!
This is not a dig, my man!
I am completely floored by your post, which included the following:
pretentious
unfathomable
encapsulated
philosophical
eschatology
dissimulation
meticulously
ineffable
acumen
transcendent
cynicism
I can’t thank you enough! I’m going to use that post as a sobriety test from now on!
Abso-freakin’-lootly Spleniforous!

The conversation between Neo and the Zion leader guy basically involved them pretending to reference big philosophical ideas just by naming them and then asking for critical praise by saying “look how deep and thoughtful this is”

I’ve got the script to the Plastic Man film that they wrote years ago, it’s pretty kick ass. I’d love to see it get made. It’s actually pretty damn good. If it doesn’t get made, it’s at least worth a read, I say.

“The conversation between Neo and the Zion leader guy basically involved them pretending to reference big philosophical ideas just by naming them and then asking for critical praise by saying “look how deep and thoughtful this is”

I’m sorry but that was the entire point of the films and it was beautifully encapsulated in these scenes between NEO and Councilor Hamann..THe point that Hamann was trying to make was how humans need machines and machines depend on humans..instead of existing mutualistically and reaping the benefits of such a relationship they freely choose to go to war with one another for the sake of self-preservation ..it’s a great comment on the reality of war and a great philosophical moment..Machines enslave humans and humans enslave machines both thinking they are “right” in the choices they have made to ensure they survive..

The movie trilogy itself fashioned an entire mythology that mirrors the spiritual journey of the ascendant..
Literally every character name, place name, hovercraft name & symbols from the movies reference Greek, Norse, Roman mythology, Hebrew theology, CHristian theology, & Zen Buddhism. Neo’s journies and struggles to save Zion and it’s inhabitants is a symbol of our quest from delusion to truth, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality..

So to quote you again “look how deep and thoughtful this is” it really is…take another look Dude!!

“There is no spoon” Rob so take a pill (preferably a Red Pill) and get down on the MAtrix!!